(April 27, 2006) Washington, D.C. - In honor of Alcohol Awareness Month, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard joined the Century Council in unveiling its new public awareness campaign called "Girl Talk" focused on underage drinking among teenage girls. At the event, the congresswoman discussed the STOP Act, which she sponsored to make permanent a national media campaign directed at parents, and to provide grants to local organizations to address underage drinking in their communities.

The full text of the congresswoman's remarks are as follows: I am truly happy to be here to help unveil Century Council's new public awareness campaign focusing on drinking among our nation's teenage girls. I commend the Century Council for its leadership in developing this initiative, and I thank the U.S. Women's Soccer Team and the Society for Women's Health Research for their support of the Council's initiative. Over the years I have had the privilege of working on this issue with the Century Council, and a bi-partisan coalition of House and Senate members. Working with Senators Dodd and DeWine, and my colleagues: Frank Wolf, Zach Wamp, Rosa DeLauro and Tom Osborne, we have had some important successes in taking underage drinking out of the shadows to make it a national priority. Our first success was in commissioning a study by the Institute of Medicine. This study outlined the extent of the underage drinking problem in our country, and provided strategies on how to address it. One critical finding of the IOM study was that parents are key to combating the problem. Based on this finding my colleagues and I successfully secured funding for a national media campaign aimed at parents. This media campaign by the Ad Council began airing across the country in December of 2005. In this Congress I re-introduced the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act with Representatives Wolf, Wamp, DeLauro and Osborne. The STOP Act, among other things, makes permanent the national media campaign directed at parents, and makes grants available to local organizations to help them address underage drinking in their communities. The Century Council's new Girl Talk campaign is very exciting, because I strongly believe in the power of coalitions to impact change in this country. The more people involved in addressing underage drinking in our nation, the more effective we will be in eliminating this public health crisis. I thank my colleagues Hilda Solis and Ginny Brown-Waite, and the Women's Caucus, for sponsoring this Girl Talk Briefing to highlight underage drinking among young girls. I hope you will pick up a summary of the STOP Act and encourage your member to be a co-sponsor.